Hundreds of children of all ages took to a field in Cregneash on Easter Monday to try their hand at egg rolling.
The unusual challenge was the highlight of the village’s annual family fun day, where visitors were treated to hours of unbroken sunshine while much of the island was shrouded in mist.
More than 200 people took part in the first egg rolling event alone, where participants aimed to roll hard boiled eggs the furthest down a sloping field, and a second event later in the afternoon attracted another 70 challengers.
The day’s programme of events also included an egg decorating competition with chocolate Easter eggs up for grabs by the winners.
A special ‘Welly Walk’ gave the children an insight into life in Cregneash, giving them a chance to meet the horses, see the spring lambs and make a wish at the well.
A trip to the gardens gave them an early look at this year’s turnip crop ahead of Hop-tu-Naa, the heritage site’s biggest event of the year where children get to carve their own turnip from the gardens.
The day was organised by Helen Ashcroft, heritage site manager for Cregneash and the Sound.
She said: ‘It was a really successful event. It’s great the way the children are so engaged with life at Cregneash.
‘There might not be any bouncy castles at our Easter day, but everything we showed them is really wholesome and educational and they really enjoyed it.’
‘For the first egg roll, the whole of the top of the field was full of people. It was an amazing sight!’
She said that participants were encouraged to bring their own hard-boiled eggs for rolling, but they had plenty to go around.
‘I boiled up seven dozen eggs, mostly collected from around the farm, and there was only one left by the end of the afternoon’, she said.
‘Thanks go to all the volunteers from Friends of Manx National Heritage, the site staff who helped the day go smoothly – and thank you to all the happy families who came and made it such a special event.’